Hamilton pushing for two British races on the F1 calendar

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton believes that Britain should be pushing for two races in the Formula 1 calendar, as well as ensuring Silverstone’s future in the sport.

The future of the British Grand Prix was cast in a shadow of doubt after the British Racing Driver’s Club (BRDC) announced that, through breaking a clause in their contract, Silverstone is only set to hold the race until 2019.

Hamilton sees the British Grand Prix as an essential of the F1 racing calendar, and with the popularity shown by the thousands of fans who attend each year, believes that keeping it is a no-brainer. The Brit also has faith that Liberty Media will reach an agreement with the BRDC to re-negotiate a contract to have the race held at Silverstone after 2019.

“I feel like this, the UK, is the home of motorsport as we’ve obviously got lots of teams here,” Hamilton spoke.

“You see the crowd that we have every Grand Prix. There’s no reason to not have a grand prix.

“I could understand if there was no-one turning up and it was costing a lot – but the fans save up and spend so much money on these weekends. I think it would be a real shame to lose it.

“I don’t believe for a second that we will lose the British Grand Prix because the world would erupt, I think. The world of sport. I will do whatever I can to encourage them and make sure it does happen.”

Although the three-time World Champion strongly defends Silverstone, he has also expressed interest in seeing another British circuit join the calendar.

“We do have a lot of great circuits in the UK, be great to be able to utilise this one and another one,” Hamilton added.

“We used to have two Grands Prix in Spain, the second one and the track wasn’t any good, so it would be kind of cool to use another great one here potentially.”